The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Sacrifice of true love for sake of Irish independence

The Wind That Shakes the Barley explores a young man’s dilemma in deciding whether to stay safely with his true love or to go and fight for his country’s freedom in the 1798 Irish Rebellion.

Wind That Shakes the Barley
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It was written by the Irish doctor and professor, Robert Dwyer Joyce and published in his collection of songs, Ballads of Irish Chivalry in 1872.

Like many other classic ’98 songs such as Boolavogue, Roddy McCorley and Kelly the Boy From Killane, it was written many years after the events it describes.

Barley evokes the sacrifice of the croppy boys

Barley

The reference to barley in the song has enormous historical significance. Many of the rebels involved in 1798 were referred to as croppy boys because of their short cropped hair.

They carried barley oats with them as food on long, tiring manoeuvres. When the rebellion failed, many croppy boys were executed and their bodies were dumped into mass graves. These graves were known as croppy pits or croppy holes.

Barley a symbol of Irish nationalism

For several years after the burials, local people reported seeing barley growing above the graves as the oats carried by the croppy boys began to sprout and flourish.

The barley came to be seen as a symbol of the spirit of Irish nationalism which could not be buried and destroyed. It would always be reborn and come back stronger than ever before.

My sad heart strove between the two

The first verse of The Wind That Shakes the Barley begins by stating the young man’s dilemma.He is torn between the old love and the new.

Torn between two loves

The old love is his long established love for his girl; the new love is his newly awakened concern for his country.

In the second verse he faces the choice head on. Though it is hard to break the ties with his lover, it is even harder to bear the fact that his country is enchained by a foreign power. He decides to join the United Irishmen, the rebel force involved in the 1798 Rebellion.

It might be asked why he feels the need to choose at all. Why not serve his country and remain with his lover. The answer is probably that it would be unsafe for her to be associated with a rebel. It would put her safety and even her life at risk.

The bullet pierced my true love’s side

In the third verse, the dilemma is taken away from the young man because his true love is killed by enemy fire.

In the fifth verse, the young man describes how he avenges her death by taking “blood for blood” at the Battle of Oulart Hollow. This was a famous victory for the rebels led by Father John Murphy, of Boulavogue fame.

The battle took place near the village of Boulavogue in County Wexford with the rebels completely routing the opposing force of British militiamen.

As round her grave I wander drear

The vengeance brings little comfort for the young rebel as his mind is still dominated by thoughts of his true love. He continues to wander around her grave, fully expecting that he might soon follow after her.

This would have been a real fear because many of the rebels who took part in the 1798 Rebellion were hounded remorselessly until they were captured and executed, usually in the most brutal fashion and often after being tortured.

Torture by half hanging and pitchcapping

Half-hanging

Torture methods included practices such as half hanging and pitch capping. Half hanging involved hanging the victim until they were on the point of death and then releasing them.

Pitch capping involved putting molten tar into a cap or container and then putting it on to the victim’s skull in order to make them reveal the whereabouts of other rebels.

Some victims attempted to smash their own skulls in an attempt to end the pain and avoid the risk of revealing secret information.

Wind that shakes the barley cements the lyrics

The refrain The Wind That Shakes the Barley serves as reference point that holds the lyric together. It punctuates each important moment in the narrative.

The wind rustles through the barley as the young man struggles with the dilemma of choosing between his lover and his country. It’s there when he decides to join the United Irishmen and then when his lover is killed.

After the tragic events of the song are played out, the young man feels his heart break every time he hears the wind shaking the barley because of the memories it evokes.

Evocative power of Wind that Shakes the Barley

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a classic among Irish rebellion songs and retains the evocative power it had when it was first published

The song has been recorded by numerous artists including Irish singer Dolores Keane, the Australian duo Dead Can Dance and the Scottish singer Dick Gaughan.

Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt not only recorded The Wind That Shakes the Barley, she also made it the title of a best selling album released in 2010.

The director Ken Loach also borrowed The Wind That Shakes the Barley as title for his film set during the Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921.

Wind That Shakes the Barley
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Lyrics and Chords